Nilsson - C or D?

you know I really don't get Nilsson - everyone says he's such a genius. To me every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb

This is only a problem if it makes you feel inferior somehow. If not, there are 90-bajillion other things to listen to.

every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb
exactly! sort of!

You gotta find the shit with the dopest arrangements. I suggest reviewing the soundtrack to "The Point" on headphones.

He has the most beautiful voice. He's like the male Karen Carpenter.

whole bbc doc is on youtube

here's part 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaHWCPFP04o

lol not doc but uh (famous) performance

It doesnt make mee feel inferior so much as like "wait, the emperor is not wearing any clothes!" I watched "WHo is Harry Nilsson" - they were talking about Nilsson Schmilsson like it was freaking Abbey Road. "Lime in the Cocoanut" - wtf??

its just music man no revelations are really there to be had

thats what you think!

I suggest buying Nilsson Schmilsson or Son Of. Otherwise have a nice life.

nilsson sings newman is the one that sent me over the edge into nilsson superfandom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS-jue4Yqt0

This song is so simple & beautiful + he is a freaking Dracula on the cover. These two things together sum up Nilsson for me!

To me every song sounds like his Randy Newman meets Any Gibb

That's why we like him. You see?

> "Lime in the Cocoanut" - wtf??

I have the same reaction, but I suppose for different reasons...oh, and I guess I had that reaction back when I was three-years-old for an entirely different reaction. Whoa!

I'm not actually a big "Coconut" fan and think Schmilsson's overrated - check out Pussy Cats. Though thinking "the emperor's not wearing any clothes" is pretty easy when watching a documentary on any rock musician.

It's funny, I hated Dylan for years because of all the "genius" talk, would make glib cracks about his ugly voice - could totally see someone doing the same with Nilsson except making glib cracks about his pretty voice. Listen to it AS lightweight andy gibb music and you'll pick up the smarts. Listen to it for genius and yeah, it's lightweight. Dude was devoted to lightweight.

OTM. Genius at lightweight. If you wanna stroke yer chin and furrow yer brow, look elsewhere.

Nilsson's best virtue is that he made several Love and Theft-type comedy records.

In Nilsson's case, I think "lightweight" is an apt complement.

Watching the doc last week I realized that "Schmilsson" was one of the handful of rock LPs my dad owned. I had this sudden memory explosion of "Coconut" (with added Muppet memories) and the drums in "Jump into the Fire" being a jump around the living room soundtrack.

Happy 70th.

+1

Why +1?

As in, "I also wish him Happy 70th."

Ah, thought you meant he was 71. But then everybody knows that in 1941 a happy father had a son.

That docu is going to be on the BBC next week.

it's not bad. the Spector stuff seems like the main glaring ommission

You could make a whole 'nother film from all the deleted scenes. Jimmy Webb had some stories man...

Saw "Son of Nilsson" at a friend's house just now and freaked out over it. When i got home, i put it on immediately!

documentary was kind of formless and boring, oh well.

Well, the "Imagine: Nilsson" documentary was on BBC1 over the weekend, and is now on iplayer.

I thought it excellent...

This thing about "Nilsson shot his voice forever thanks to Lennon" doesn't hold up for me.

Even in the doc, they spoke of his contribution to The Fisher King as being "well, his voice was shot and his whistling all over the place" and then the track got played, and it sounded great.

Even "Many rivers to cross" sounded raw/ragged, but in a good way.

Been on a major Nilsson jag since watching the documentary. The piano/harpsichord coda to "Cowboy" on Nilsson sings Newman. Wow

That's a nod to the theme to Midnight Cowboy actually. And yes, it's awesome.

that version of Cowboy is so great. hard to imagine such power coming out of a sparse arrangement. nilsson and newman seem so perfect for each other.

Fuck, i knew the piano reminded me of something. Pretty dumb of me not make the connection. It really is a tremendous album though. I like a lot the rest of his catalogue but tbh i'm not much of a fan of the wackier material so it's my favourite. Dunno how they left "Snow" off the original tracklist either.

"Snow" is pretty much my favorite thing on the record. It's devastating.

the double- and then triple-tracking at roughly 7:15 = teh awesome
2012 republican presidential nominee III: can romney get santorum out of his hair?

Yeah, I dunno, Shakey, I have to say I think Harry's voice really shows the strain when he tries to tackle that later, political-meter-data-based material.

"people let me tell you 'bout mitt rom-ney"

"You're breaking my heart/you're tearin' it apart/So Ron Paul"

I can't live, if living is without Newt.

"Buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum (orum)
Try-y-y-y i-y-y Santorum (orum)
If you buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum
You will hear me singing...
'Down from the mountain to Mitt Romney
Down from Mitt Romney to the people
Teach 'em how to pray'

Buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum (orum)
Try-y-y-y i-y-y Santorum (orum)
If you buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum
You will hear me singing...
'Herman Cain (oh yes he will!)
Herman Cain (leavin' in the mornin' yeah)'

Buy-y-y-y i-y-y-y Santorum (orum)
Won't you try-y-y-y i-y-y Santorum (orum)"

Fuck it, somebody should have just done all of "I'll Be Home"...

Herman Cain, Herman Cain
When your nights are troubled and you're all alone
When you're feelin' down and need some sympathy
And there's no one else around to keep you company
Remember baby, you can always count on me
Herman Cain, Herman Cain, Herman Cain.

Herman Cain, Herman Cain
Wherever you may wander and wherever you may roam
You come back and I'll be waiting here for you
'Cause no one else will ever love you the way I do
I'll be here to comfort you and see you through
Herman Cain, Herman Cain, Herman Cain.

So, finally saw the documentary last night along with my sweets -- she was very intrigued and fascinated by his voice and immediately asked if I had anything by him (far too few things, actually -- aside from scattered tracks, just Son Of and the Popeye demos, oddly enough). She thought the documentary itself was a little too long though we were running it late in the evening, but she had a point since the film as noted is a bit poor on structure and detail at points, so it feels a bit like a slog. Still, loved the footage that did pop up and as an initial taste of everything there's been worse. Now I need to look through that For The Love of Harry blog...

Be careful Ned - you'll end up downloading all 11 volumes (22 discs!) of Harrities. I speak from experience.

This is not a bad thing.

true! Just giving you fair notice that you it's deep water you propose to enter.

Ha, well, I've already started that process. Meantime I'll order up Nilsson Schmilsson today from iTunes lest my girlfriend get testy.

I'm partial to Nilsson SIngs Newman. Great mix of voice and viewpoint.

Nilsson's the best, your girlfriend is great.